Bird Watching At Kuala Sepetang (Port Weld)

I was at Port Weld last weekend for some seafood and bird watching.

Once the busiest port in the region, its facilities were mainly for exporting of processed tin ore. Opened in 1877 as the gateway for cargo ships, Port Weld is now called Kuala Sepetang. No longer a main port, it is now mainly used by fishing boats.

In the past, Port Weld was an important port for import export activities between Taiping and Penang. Apart from Teluk Intan. Port Weld is also used as an exit point to the Kinta District and Upper Perak District. At that time, the items traded were opium, preserved vegetables, tobacco and tin ore.Port Weld's activities with Taiping increased when a railroad was built. Works on the railroad started in the end of 1884 and its construction was managed by the Ceylon Pioneer Corps. On February, the railroad was officially opened and plying the Taiping and Port Weld route transported passengers and goods.

(info from virtualmalaysia.com)

After doing some research on the net, I manage to identify this bird as Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus). The bird is medium-sized raptors (birds of prey), with a white head and breast. The rest of its body is a striking chestnut brown. The very tip of its tail is white. The wings are broad, with dark 'fingered' wing tips and the tail is short. The legs are short and not feathered, the eye is dark and the lemon yellow coloured bill is strongly hooked. It sails on level wings along shorelines and mudflats.

The Brahminy Kite feeds on carrion (dead animals), insects and fish. It swoops low over water, the ground or tree tops and snatches live prey or carrion from the surface. It also steals from fish-hunting birds, snatching prey in flight.

The nest of the Brahminy Kite is built in living trees near water, often mangrove trees. The nest is large, made from sticks, seaweed or driftwood and lined with a variety of materials such as lichens, bones, seaweed and even paper. Both parents incubate the eggs and the young are fed bill to bill with small pieces of food .

a closeup picture sourced from www.birdsinbackyards.com